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Cricket Players‘With Rohit Sharma in isolation, experience will decide openers’: Agarkar picks India's top-order for England Test
Rohit Sharma's presence in the upcoming England Test is in doubt after the India captain tested positive for Covid-19. The match is set to begin on July 1. Ahead of the Test, former India pacer Ajit Agarkar had his say on India's openers for the series decider.
India’s largest concern heading into the final Test against England will be the health of their opener and skipper, Rohit Sharma. Rohit tested positive for Covid-19, and with just two days to go before the match begins on July 1, he will be facing a battle against time to be deemed fit and healthy to play in the important fifth Test of the series as India currently lead 2-1.
In the meantime, there has been much discussion about who could captain India in Rohit’s place, but also of who should take his spot at the top of the order should the situation arise. While Shubman Gill is likely to be one half of the opening duo, the other spot is a matter for thought. Mayank Agarwal was flown in from India as a potential Covid-replacement for Rohit, and KS Bharat opened in the warm-up game against Leicestershire, doing well with 43 runs. However, former Indian all-rounder Ajit Agarkar believes that neither of these two options would be best suited to open the batting under swinging conditions at Edgbaston.
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“I know KS Bharat got some runs in the warm-up game,” said Agarkar, presenting for Sony Sports.
“The team management will probably have a look at how prepared Mayank Agarwal is after joining the team. I don’t know if he has enough time to prepare for this one-off Test.”
Mayank did open in the Test matches earlier this year against Sri Lanka, but wasn’t in good form despite playing at home. There’s also been criticism of his technique against the moving ball, with there often being a gap between bat and pad which pacers can exploit.
Agarkar revealed what his choices would be for alternatives. “With Rohit in isolation, I believe experience will help in opening, whether it is Vihari or Pujara, who has been around for a long time”, he said.
Pujara and Vihari have both opened for India in the past, and one of the two would originally have been slotted in to play at number 3. Given Pujara’s pedigree at the position, and his form in the County Championships this year, he might earn the bidding rights for coming in at that position.
Agarkar justified that Pujara or Vihari should open instead of Bharat or Agarwal due to their gametime. “Vihari has already opened for India a couple of times. So, that would be my pick, one of those two if Mayank doesn’t look quite ready as he didn’t have enough time in the nets and is clearly not going to get any (practice) games now”, he said.
Agarkar continued, “In my opinion, it’s better to go with a little bit more experience because it is a one-off Test.”
Opening the batting in England against the red ball is one of the toughest skills to master in world cricket, and the position will be of great significance to India’s hopes of success against a new-look aggressive England team. India did collapse under new-ball pressure on the tour last year, and will be hoping that a strong opening partnership is present at the top, with or without Rohit.
The Test will begin on July 1, with much hanging in the balance as India lead 2-1. They will hope to have their best players available for the challenge, to wrap up a famous series victory, and the first in England since 2007.
Watch the LIVE coverage of the much anticipated fifth Test between England and India on SONY SIX (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi), and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels starting from 1st July at 3:30 pm IST.
